Thursday, March 2, 2017

Glass Penguins - Raspberry (1987, Green Monkey)

This cassette album from a good three decades ago will be of interest a got lot of you. Not due so much to the renown of Glass Penguins prime mover Michael Cox, but some of his collaborators, including Kurt Bloch (Fastbacks), Scott McCaughey & Chuck Carroll (Young Fresh Fellows) and last but not least Jon Auer of The Posies who co-engineered Raspberry. By and large this is Michael's baby, with the aforementioned primarily playing background roles. No true blue revelations here, but all and all a pretty good tape that sonically pursues DIY, bedroom/power pop avenues. The opening "Girl I've Never Met" and later, "Out of the Rain" might mesh appropriately on an early Game Theory record, "I'm Sure" is brisk, assured acousti-pop, and "Out of the Rain" packs plenty of kickin' propulsive panache. Michael does ample justice to the Knack's "Number and Your Name" and Neil Diamond's "Look Out (Here Come's Tomorrow)."

01. Girl I've Never Met
02. Shadow of a Fish
03. Your Time
04. Out of the Rain
05. Fine to Me
06. I'm Sure
07. Number or Your Name
08. She Moves Me
09. Look Out (Here Come's Tomorrow)
10. Pull Yourself Together
11. It's Never Too Late